Forgiving Love
by danger-natnat
Summary: BriseisAchilles. Briseis was as incredibly beautiful as she could be, but she had to wear a veil and let no men see her face. Will everything changes when she become a slave of Achilles? Can love blossoms between them? R&R!
1. Daughter of Love

Okay, this is a completely different story from The Black Sail before Troy.

I decided to try something new... Please, support, support, support!

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Ch 1

The setting was in Lyrnessus, a city east of Mount Ida which was Troy's ally. It was eighteen years before the Trojan War.

In the temple of Apollo stood a priest, and Briseus was his name. He was thin, about sixty years of age. He was a cousin of King Priam in Troy, but was fed up by all the political matters in life. So Briseus had decided to be the priest of Apollo when he was thirty, and he went to this very quiet city of Lyrnessus, and settled down. He was married, but have no children. Briseus knelt down before the statue, and started praying when some god from Olympus came to visit him. This goddess had a very bright tunic of hair, which fell below her knees and was yellow as daffodils. Her eyes were stormy blue, and she was tall and fair. The moment the priest saw her, he knew who she was. She was the goddess of love and beauty; also the goddess of desire, who, unlike other Olympians, is never distracted from her duties. Her work was her pleasure, her profession, her hobby. And her work was what exactly caused her to come all the way down from Mount Olympus to Lyrnessus.

Briseus knelt down before Aphrodite at once, and said, 'Greetings, the goddess of love and beauty. Welcome to Lyrnessus.' He noticed that Aphrodite was carrying a baby.

Aphrodite smiled at him. 'Priest, you have to do me a favour.'

'Anything I can do for you.'

Aphrodite handed him the baby. 'This is the baby of the messenger god Hermes and the goddess of love Aphrodite. You must raise her up, but let no man see her face until she is married, except for her supposed kinsmen. She would grow up to be the most beautiful woman in the world, even better than Psyche, the lover of my son Eros.' Briseus took the baby in his arms. She was sleeping peacefully, and although she was still a baby, Briseus could tell that she was already very beautiful. 'Remember, you cannot let any men see her face. The smith god will know, and he will go after the baby. You must promise not to let anyone know about her beauty.'

Briseus bowed at Aphrodite, and without another word, she left. After hearing the goddess' words, Briseus knew that this child was the child of Hermes and Aphrodite, and was born out of wedlock. If Hephaestus, the husband of Aphrodite, found out anything about the girl, he would kill her.

Briseus glanced at the baby, who was sleeping peacefully. How could he conceal the beauty of her? There was only one way: she must wear a veil.

So he brought her back to his home, and they decided that her name was to be Briseis. Together with his wife, raised the girl. Briseis grew each day, and she learned fast. When she was seven, she asked her mother and father, 'Why must I wear a veil in front of everyone despite my cousins? My friend, Chryseis, or the mature sister of her, Andromache from Thebe, doesn't need to wear it.' The old couple looked at each other, unable to answer the question of the little girl. At last, Briseus told the little Briseis, 'Briseis, listen. You are a blessed beauty, and it is very dangerous for you to be looked at in the face by men. They are bad and evil, and they will kidnap you, and you can never see us again. Yes, you can remove your veil, but you must do it after you are married.'

The young Briseis nodded, and she went away to find her friends. Then, Briseus' wife turned to him, and said, 'Why didn't you tell her the truth? One day, when she grows up, the sense of danger would be gone from her, and she would remove her veil without our acknowledgement.'

'If she knows the truth, she would just tell her friends and the smith god will know.'

But Briseis was a very good daughter and she did not disobey her parents. She always wore her veil when she went out to meet her friends. Very often, she would go to Troy to meet her (supposed) cousins Hector and Paris. But she still wore the veil although she was just seeing her cousins. When she was asked by her friends why she had to wear a veil, she would just tell them that it was for her safety.

When she was only sixteen, young men were already chasing after her feet already. They had never looked at her face, but just one glance in her eyes was already enough for them to know that the girl was incredibly beautiful. Starting from then, her home was always being visited by suitors. Briseus then had made Briseis promised him not to go out or leave home alone. Of course, Briseis kept her promise, and would only go to see Hector and Paris when they would come to fetch her.

Everything was very usual and simple to Briseis until her mother and father died. Briseis had cried for ten days, and even her uncle Priam had to send Hector and Paris to comfort the girl. After the burial of them, the king of Lyrnessus fetched her to live in his palace, and Briseis stayed there. She recovered quickly, and had made friends with the princesses and princes in the palace.

Two years passed quickly, and Briseis was eighteen. She grew more and more beautiful each day, and everywhere she went, the young men would make way for her. Sometimes she would feel a bit embarrassed, but she started to get used to it soon.

This day, after Paris had brought Helen back to Troy, and the Trojan War had started for a few months, the army of Greece invaded the city of Lyrnessus.

The palace was in chaos, and Briseis was running through the crowd to find Cydippie, the king's youngest daughter. Cydippie was only seven, and Briseis cared for the little girl a lot. She was getting worrier and worrier every second—the Greeks had already battered down the gates, and were flooding into the city. If she could not find Cydippie in time, both of them might die. Briseis spotted her at last; she was curled up in a ball behind a statue of Hera in the front hall of the palace. The hall was already empty, as it would be the first place the Greeks would reach if they were going to sack the palace, which she was sure it was what the Greek army was going to do as soon as they reached the palace. She hurried towards the young girl, and picked her up.

'Briseis, I am scared,' the little girl whispered, her voice quivering. 'It's just a hide and seek game,' Briseis comforted, 'now, this place is not safe for hiding, let's go and find another place.'

The girl nodded, and Briseis ran after Cydippie, and ushered her out of the hall. At this moment the Greeks were starting to barge through the large door of the palace, and Briseis eyes widened with fear. With Cydippie, they were not going to escape in time. So, Briseis told the girl where to get to the tunnel that led to the palace of Troy, and she locked the door of the hall, leaving Cydippie to go to the tunnel herself safely, while Briseis herself remained in the hall alone. Briseis could not understand why, but suddenly, the power of courage came to her and she felt very brave. At least Cydippie was safe starting from now, and she had nothing to worry about. No father, no mother, no cousins. They were all safe, and she was going to face death alone. Maybe it was time to meet her dead parents in Hades' domain.

Briseis knelt in front of the statue of Hera, and prayed: _Oh, dearest Hera, the Queen of all gods, please, let me die peacefully, and bless the kinsmen and friends of mine..._

However, she did not know for herself that Hera was on the side of Greece after Paris had decided to give the golden apple to Aphrodite.

Before she could even finish her prayer, the Greeks threw open the door and they flooded in, leading by a tall and strong man with hair of dark gold, and the eyes of the colour of sapphire. Now, all the bravery and valor in Briseis was being washed away by fear and panic, and Briseis clasped her hands, kept on praying silently, hoping her strength and will power would come back to her.

The man, who seemed to be the army's leader, signaled for the soldiers to sack the palace, and the soldiers started their occupation. He walked towards Briseis, and stopped behind her. Briseis shifted a bit, and shut her eyes tight while lowering her head. She was waiting for the man to draw his sword to kill her, but it did not come.

'Who are you, girl?' He demanded pompously. Briseis held up her head without looking at him. _You want to know who am I? I'm not telling you._ Briseis thought rebelliously. 'I am asking you a question, are you deaf?' That man asked threateningly. Briseis remained silent.

The man grabbed her soft silky hair and pulled her head up to look at him. Briseis cried out in pain, but she still glared at the man fearlessly. The man seemed to release her a bit, and his hard and cold expression seemed to soften a bit too. He frowned and, this time, although it was still very rude and harsh to Briseis, he asked her more gently, 'Are you a princess? Why didn't you escape?'

Briseis did not answer him, and tried to turn her head away. But he pulled her hair again, causing Briseis to wince. The soldiers around laughed. She glared at the man who was holding her hair, but this time, he did not reduce the force applied. Instead, he just smirked at her and said, 'Ooh, I'm sorry that I have to grasp your hair with such force, your majesty. But your hair is too smooth and silky. I'm so afraid that they're going slip out of my fingers.' The soldiers nearby laughed even louder and Briseis felt that the tears of rage and ire were threatening to fall.

Briseis shut her eyes, and said loudly, 'If you are going to kill me, do it now. What are you waiting for?' Her voice rang through the hall, and the soldiers silenced at once. That golden haired warrior seemed to be quite taken aback by her words, as he released her hair. However, the arrogant expression on his face did not change.

'I'm not going to kill you.' The man said calmly. He lifted her over his shoulders and started walked out of the palace. 'Let me go!' Briseis screamed, and started thumping and pounding his back as hard as she could. However, the man remained silence, and Briseis started to grow weak. She paused for a moment, catching her breath. She had never hit anyone in her life before, and she found that it was extremely exhausting.

'At last,' Briseis heard him said to her. She was puzzled. At last?

'I wonder how long you are going to keep on pounding my back. You don't seem to be very strong.' He said quietly. Briseis did not respond, as she did not want to talk to a merciless man. Besides, she was starting to feel dizzy, as she was hung upside down on the warrior's shoulder. Her veil overturned, and instead of covering just her nose and lips, it covered her eyes. She was quite worried at first, but fortunately, what in front of her face was the back of that leader of the Greeks, so Briseis calmed down a little.

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Okay, this is the first chapter... what do you think of it?

Should I just go back to write the sequel to The Black Sail Before Troy when I finish the story?

Or should I continue on this?

Please, review!


	2. Story behind the veil

Thank you so much for the reviews!!!

I can't believe I can get 10 reviews for my first chap!

Thanks for your support so much!! :D

Here's chapter 2 for you!

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Chapter 2

_Where are we going?_ Briseis was screaming silently to ask the question. But who could she ask? There was only one choice, and Briseis decided not to ask. She loathed this certain golden haired warrior a lot... But she really wanted to know where she was now.

Briseis closed her eyes and tried hard to rest for a while. But she was in a very uncomfortable position. The warrior was grabbing her legs, preventing her to fall from his left shoulder, and the upper part of her body was hanging loosely on his shoulder. 'Let me down!' Briseis asked again, but just as she had expected, the warrior did not respond.

At last, which seemed like hours to her, they came to the campsite of Greece and Briseis realized where she was now. Immediately, she started to thump and pound on the back of the warrior again and she was unsuccessful. The man walked into one of the tents and threw her down on a bed. Briseis scrambled off to as far as she could be from the man and sat there, looking at the man. This time, she could have a very detail look at the warrior. He was extremely handsome. It seemed like his blue eyes could suck in other people's souls. However, it seemed to her that those eyes had seen much more than they had supposed to. He had shoulder-length hair, and it had the colour of dark gold. Briseis had never seen a man as charming as him before... Even Paris was not as attractive as this man.

The warrior sat on the bed also, and Briseis kept their distance. 'You're afraid of me?' he asked.

'No. I'm not even afraid of death.' Briseis snapped back.

He leaned a bit closer to look into Briseis' eyes. Briseis wanted to back away, but she was already on the edge of the bed. 'Do you know who I am?'

Briseis shook her head. She was not afraid of anyone. 'I kill without a blink. Thousands of men had died under my sword.' He said arrogantly. 'Don't think that I won't kill women. I will kill my captives when they are not obeying me.' He said dangerously, and Briseis gulped.

He smirked at Briseis' uneasiness. 'Can you guess who I am now?'

'I don't know any warrior's name except for Hector's.' Briseis said deceitfully, although she already knew who this man was. She had heard lots of stories from her parents, and had heard his name long ago. He had been in the battlefield when he was only fifteen. He was none other than the great warrior Achilles. 'Good. You know who I am.'

Briseis' mouth hung open. This Achilles was weird.

'You still haven't answered me. Who are you? I'm sure that you're not a daughter of the king.' Achilles said without a doubt. 'How do you know?' Briseis asked him back curiously.

'The king's family has dark blue eyes. Yours are hazel brown.' He answered. Briseis frowned. How did he know that the king's family had dark blue eyes? Even she herself had never noticed the fact. 'Who are you? Why were you in the palace? You don't seem to be a servant.' the warrior said, looking at her up and down. But Briseis did not answer. He had no right to know her name.

'Are you not telling me?' Achilles drew his sword, and pointed it at Briseis. Briseis looked at him, despising him of loosing his temper so easily, and being so cruel and violent. She still did not tell him her name. To her surprise, instead of slewing her, he pushed his sword back to its sheath.

'Why don't you kill me?' Briseis asked.

'It happens that I need a slave.' Achilles said superciliously, glancing at her.

Briseis fumed. _How dare he...-_

'Why are you wearing a veil?' Achilles asked, looking into her eyes, his own softening a bit. 'I don't want my slave wearing a veil, running around.' He added. _She must be extremely beautiful, judging by her eyes... _he thought as he reached out slowly to remove it.

To his astound and fury, Briseis smacked his hand away. 'I don't think you should look at my face. It's disfigured. I'm afraid that you'll throw up, my dear master.' Briseis said defiantly.

Achilles felt his angered boiled in his veins. He had never come across some slave so insubordinate. But he remained very composed, and smirked, 'I promise that I won't, and if it did happens, I promise you that the vomit won't be spoiling your dress.' Although Achilles was sneering at her, he was sure that the girl in front of him was a beauty, and he had the strangest desire to look at her face. He leaned closer again, and this time, he was slapped by Briseis on the face.

'Are you really not afraid to see Hades?' He bellowed, reaching for his sword again. Briseis winced and looked at him, horrified.

Although she was already overtook by fear, Briseis still tried to put up a brave image. 'There's nothing that I am afraid of.' She managed to say without her voice quivering. Achilles' eyes seemed to soften a bit at the merely audible but courageous words of the girl. Was he really going to kill the girl? She seemed so helpless, and he knew that she could never fight him. He studied the girl. She was very small, and she looked very delicate and fragile, and yet, in his eyes, she was very adorable, unlike other girls that he knew. She seemed to be very young also, younger than himself. He admired her bravery, and he said, 'I respect your courage, but don't try it on me. Now, remove your veil and let me look at your face.'

'No.' Briseis insisted, she was not going to submit to Achilles. And she had to keep her promise to her parents. She would not let any men see her face. Suddenly, she thought of a lie. 'Let me tell you the truth...' She said, pretending to look very sad.

Achilles frowned, and he sat down on the bed again.

'When I was young, my mother had offended Aphrodite. The fair goddess was angered, but she did not kill my mother.' Briseis started, trying desperately to think of what should come next. 'Instead, she imposed a curse on her baby, which the infant is no other than me myself. She said that no man, except for my family members, can look at my face. A glimpse, and the man will die. They won't die immediately, but they will die accidentally.' Briseis said, the story was starting to be smooth. 'My parents had not told anyone about the curse, but they let me wear a veil. Once, a friend of my father had looked at my face, and on the way back to his home, he was eaten by wolves.' Briseis said, trying hard to squeeze a tear out of her eyes. 'Aphrodite had punished my mother and I by not letting me get married...'

To her amusement, Achilles seemed thoughtful. _I cannot bear to risk my life by just wanting to look at the girl's face. Maybe she's telling the truth. Her eyes are so captivating, yet they maybe tempting young men to look at her face..._

'Even if it is so, you are still going to be my slave.' Achilles said self-righteously. 'You are to stay in the tent the whole day. You are preparing a bath for me everyday, and help me tidying all my things. You are to do what you are told.'

Briseis nodded reluctantly. At least Achilles was not trying to rape her. She was quite proud of her little story.

Briseis watched as her master walked out of the tent, and she started to tidy up the things in the tent. It took her a lot of time, as the tent was very untidy. At last, when the sun started to set, Briseis went to prepare the bath for Achilles.

Not long after she had finished her job for the day, Achilles came back to the tent and looked around. Everything seemed so different. The tent was so tidy. On the floor sat Briseis, leaning on a post, sleeping soundlessly. Her appearance was very mesmerizing already, although she was still wearing the veil. Achilles really wanted to see her face. He walked towards her, and she opened her eyes, awaken by the sound that Achilles produced.

'I'm sorry to disturb your rest, but I need to bath.' Achilles said. He did not intend to be so gentle to her, but her sight was intriguing, it made him feel that he had to treat her kindly.

The girl looked at him wearily, and she stood up.

'Here,' she said, and helped Achilles to remove his breastplate. She blushed a bit, and was grateful that the veil was covering her cheeks. Achilles' chest was a wall of hard muscle, and was tanned from all the years of war. There was dirt and blood on his body, and it only added to his attractiveness. Briseis blushed even harder when he removed his tunic. She turned her head and avoided to look at him. Achilles got into the bathtub and he started washing himself.

Briseis turned to walk away.

'What?' Achilles said, and Briseis turned back. 'You're not going to help?'

Briseis' mouth hung open. She was supposed to help?

But meekly, she obeyed and walked back to the tub. She grabbed a washcloth and started to wash his back. She noticed that there were scars on his back; some seemed to be quite new. Briseis wondered if they hurt a lot. She did not notice, but she had put down the washcloth and started to caress those wounds.

And the worst is, this did not go unnoticed by Achilles.

'Never seen so many scars on someone's body, I suppose?' he asked coolly.

Briseis shook her head, forgetting the fact the Achilles could not see her. 'I... do they hurt a lot?'

'No.'

Silence took over the two, and Briseis massaged Achilles' shoulders. It was very comfortable, and Achilles had never felt hands so soft before. They also gave him the feeling of naivety and inexperience, which Achilles had never met any girl that had such qualities. His hand shot up to grab Briseis' right hand. Briseis gasped, and tried to haul her hand away, but failed miserably.

'Have I done anything wrong?' Briseis asked nervously.

Achilles did not answer. He just stared at the small and delicately fair hand of Briseis. It was so beautiful that it looked unreal. It seemed like that it was made by the material of white clay by the finest craftsman. Briseis breathed hard and bit her lower lip. Achilles was holding her hand so tight that it felt numb. She tried to wiggle her hand free, but it only made Achilles tightened his grip around her wrist.

Achilles suddenly released her hand, and Briseis breathed out audibly. She looked back at Achilles, only to find him staring at her eyes.

Briseis looked at him quizzically, not understanding the expression of Achilles.

Suddenly, Achilles shot up his hand to remove Briseis' veil.

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How is that? I'm really excited to know how you feel about that...

Review!


	3. A Pact with him

Arrgh! I feel so insulted by our favourite reviewer!!

Well, anyway, those words can never stop me from writing this story.

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Chapter 3

His hand came so suddenly without any warning, and Briseis knew she could never get away before it reached her veil. Before she started to panic, Achilles had already grabbed Briseis' veil and pulled it off. Fortunately, just beside Briseis was a washcloth. Briseis covered her face with her hands and snatched it to use as her veil temporally.

Achilles was discouraged, so he scowled and asked Briseis, 'Why don't you let me look at your face?'

'If you do look at me, you'll die!' Briseis exclaimed furiously.

'That's what you want,' Achilles said, to Briseis' surprise, a bit bitterly.

Briseis bit her lower lip. That was what she wanted actually. But if looking at her face could really kill someone, she would have already removed her veil already. 'I need you to protect me.' Briseis was quite surprised for her lying ability.

'You are just a slave of mine, why do you think I will protect you?' Achilles inquired.

'You will.' Briseis said, convincing herself more than Achilles.

To her astound, Achilles smiled at her answer. 'You're right. I will protect my properties.' He stood up to get out of the bathtub. Briseis closed her eyes and turned her head away from his direction. _This man has no dignity or whatsoever._ Briseis decided.

Achilles' voice disturbed her thoughts, 'Hey, girl.' She looked up at him, and found the warrior already dressed. 'What's your name?' he asked, while throwing the veil back at her.

Briseis turned her back to him and put on her veil. She pondered if she should tell him her name... But it would be very inconvenient for her after she escaped from Achilles if she told him her name. 'If you're not telling me your name, how am I going to address you? Do you want me just to call you "girl"?'

_It's already very fortunate for me that you're not calling me 'slave'..._ Briseis thought insubordinately.

'Okay, then I'll call you "girl",' Achilles said frivolously.

Briseis did not say anything. 'Have you a mother?' Achilles asked. He would know like to know who her mother was, only a beautiful mother could produce such a beautiful daughter.

'I had a mother.' Briseis said, on the verge of tears now. 'Her name was Maia.'

_Maia? _Achilles had never heard of such name.

'Why were you in the palace?' Achilles asked, still wanting to know the reason.

'Why should I tell you?' Briseis snapped at him. Achilles was puzzled and angered. He raised his hand a bit, wanting to slap her. What had he done wrong? Why was the girl being so defensive? He glanced at her. The girl was sitting on the floor, crying a bit, thinking of her parents, and was as helpless as she could be. Was he, the great warrior going to intimidate such a feeble and powerless girl? He sighed a bit, and bent down to look at her.

'Are you tired?' he asked, and was surprised how gentle his voice could be. Briseis sniffed I bit, and nodded. 'If so, go to sleep. We can share a bed.'

Briseis' eyes widened with fear, and she shook her head and backed away. It was very obvious to Achilles that she had misunderstood him. 'Please, don't...' she begged, her voice breaking a bit.

'It's not like that I'll take advantage of you.' Achilles said to her. But Briseis still shook her head vigorously with mistrust. Achilles sighed. This girl was so hard to deal with. 'Okay,' he said, defeated by the girl at last, 'I'll sleep on the floor than.' Achilles threw a few blankets on the floor, and made himself comfortable. Briseis did not move, she just sat on the floor and looked at Achilles with her huge watery eyes. 'What? Are you not sleeping? I'll have the bed then!' Achilles said irritatingly, sitting up to climb up the bed.

'No! I'm sleeping.' Briseis said and flopped onto the bed as quickly as she could. Achilles chuckled a bit, and lay on his so called 'bed' again. He closed his eyes, and in his mind, a pair of hazel brown eyes appeared immediately. Briseis' eyes undoubtedly. They were perfectly shaped, and her lashes were very long. They fanned out very neatly, and curtained her brown orbs. He could swear that he had never seen such beautiful eyes. He wondered how the girl could look like. Was her face really disfigured, like what she had said...?_ No, I don't think so. She said it just to prevent me from looking at her..._ Achilles thought.

However she looked like, it remained a mystery to Achilles. He really wanted to look at her face, to see how beautiful she was, but somehow, he was a bit afraid that what she had told him about the curse of Aphrodite was true. It could be. The girl seemed so gentle and caring; maybe she would never like anyone to die, even if he/she was her enemy.

The girl shifted a bit on his bed, and he could see her hair was dangling loosely on the edge. He reached out and touched those silky curls. He could not understand why he had grabbed that hair so forcefully in the palace this afternoon. He had humiliated her so much in front of his men when he should have treated her gently. But when he had first seen her eyes this afternoon, he thought he ought to let her know that he was very strong and could never be defeated. What had he been doing? Was he showing off?

He shook his head mentally. When he had been carrying her to his tent today, he had thought of making her his woman. But after a few conversations between them, he found that he could not do it. The girl was too innocent to be made a woman now. Maybe she was too young to experience such things...

The next morning when Achilles woke up again, Briseis was already out of bed. She just went into the tent, carrying his washbasin when he sat up. He rose without a word, got himself dressed and went to wash his face. Briseis sat on the bed and combed her hair. There was an awkward silence between them, and Achilles was desperately thinking of something to break it.

'Good morning,' Achilles said, trying to be as warm as he was. He opened his mouth again, wanting to say her name. But he suddenly realized that he did not even know his slave's name.

'Nice morning, milord.' Briseis returned his greeting with a bit of repulse.

'What's your name?' He asked, looking up from the washbasin. He did not want to give up on knowing the girl's name. Briseis' eyes were very distance and remoteness, yet she was still running her hands through her hair. And to Achilles' surprise, she answered him distractedly, 'Briseis.' It was a just a very simple word, but Achilles felt himself being warmed up by the name of the girl. It was like a spell, spreading warmth and (a tiny bit of) affection from his head to toes.

Achilles leaned on a post, and watched Briseis as she started to tidy up the bed.

'Why are you wasting your time watching me, milord? Don't you have to go to war today?' Briseis asked, her gaze still on the sheets.

'No. I would have woken up very early if I have to go to war.' Said Achilles as he crossed his hands in front of his chest, trying to find a more comfortable position.

'Besides, I found you quite interesting.' He added.

Briseis stopped unexpectedly, and glanced sideways at her master. She was getting a bit nervous. Her master was, in her opinions, extremely flirtatious. She found it very hard to respond to his words. What he had just said was an example. Not knowing what to say, Briseis remained silent.

'Hey, Briseis,' Achilles said. He found that Briseis' name flowed out from his lips smoothly. He grinned a bit, 'Is it true?'

'What do you mean by this?' Briseis said, a bit annoyed by Achilles. But he was her master after all, and she had no choice but to respond.

'The "men dying if they look at your face" thing.' Achilles said.

'What if I tell you my mother was a Gorgon?' Briseis nearly snapped at the man.

'She wasn't,' Achilles frolicsomely. 'You can't be that beautiful if your mother was a Gorgon.' Briseis glared at him. 'Besides, your hair doesn't seem to be serpents...' Achilles added, fleeting a look at Briseis' mass of nearly-black brown hair.

'I have told you,' Briseis said silently. 'My face looks disgusting.'

'What if I tell you that I'm not afraid of dying?' Achilles asked. 'Would you let me to look at your face? Just one look?'

'I can't let you do that.' Briseis replied. 'I must make sure that my safety is guaranteed.'

'You're just my slave. I can ask you to do anything.' Achilles said, raising his voice a bit. He was starting to grow impatient of the girl not letting him see her face. What was drawing him into this wrath? Why was he desired to look at Briseis' face so much?

She raised her head high, and in a very intrepid tone, said, 'You said you will kill your captives when they are not obeying you. Now I refuse to remove my veil. Why don't you kill me?' Briseis' answer was quite surprising. Achilles would never have expected such words came from the mouth of this petite little girl.

'What if I will free you?' Achilles said.

Briseis looked at Achilles. Was he going to free her if he could just have a look at her face?

'Yes.' Achilles said, answering the question in Briseis' mind. 'I will free you if you let me look at your face. Just once.'

Briseis thought hard. It was a very tempting idea. She could enjoy freedom once again. She could go to the palace of Troy to find her cousins. 'I...' Briseis had nearly brought herself to be in agreement with Achilles' offer, but at the last moment, she stopped herself. How could she face her dead parents if she let this man see her face? She had even promised them not to let anyone look at her face before their death. They had seemed so concerned about this matter. 'No... I will still be your slave, as long as you won't ask me to remove my veil again.'

Achilles had been so sure that Briseis would agree when he had offered her freedom. But what she said was out of his estimation. Could he resist the temptation of no looking at her face? Why was Briseis so concerned about him looking at her? What could be more than having freedom? Achilles did not understand Briseis' motive of refusing his offer.

'Why?' he asked, trying to hide his desperation of knowing the answer. Was it because that she did not want him to die?

'Can you promise me about that?' Briseis asked him back instead of answering him. She was glad that she could have something to distract Achilles.

'I can only promise you that I will not look at your face on purpose...' Came the answer. And Briseis was grateful enough already.

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Ha Ha! I'm not letting Achilles sees Briseis' face! At least not in a few chapters... I guess...

By the way, do you like the chapter?

Review!


	4. Escape to the Rain

Oh, what an exhausting day. I've to update now, or never.

School is starting tomorrow.

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Chapter 4

It was in Mount Olympus. Aphrodite was leaning on a red comfortable couch. Ares, the God of War and Battle had just left her house, and she was alone. It was eighteen days since she went to the mortal word, and she wondered if her baby daughter had grown into a beautiful lady already. A day in the immortal world represented a year in the mortal world after all. She wondered if the baby had any men chasing after her. _Oh, of course she has, she is the daughter of the God of Beauty herself..._ Aphrodite giggled a bit, and rested her head on a cushion when someone knocked the door. Who would it be? She had not made any appointments with any Gods today, except for Ares... And it was not likely that the person would be her husband. He had promised her that he would work late when he proposed. This was the reason Aphrodite promised the marriage.

She sat up and left the couch at a snail's pace, and walked towards the door. It was Echo, a very kind hearted wood nymph with an extremely beautiful voice. Aphrodite sometimes would come all the way from Mount Olympus to her cave just to listen to her stories. There were always a lot of gossips going between the two.

'My dearest Echo!' Aphrodite exclaimed. 'How glad you come to visit me.'

'I miss our gossips,' Echo said with her sweet and sing-song voice.

Aphrodite smiled at the nymph, and led her into her house. Once the two settled a bit, they began to gossip nonstop. Their gossip let to Ares, the new lover of Aphrodite. When the God of War and Battle was being talked about, the topic of the Trojan War was raised. Aphrodite smiled, and gave her wood nymph friend to see the golden apple, which had the words 'To the Fairest' carved on it. The Goddess told the nymph that it was presented to her by Paris, the youngest prince of Troy, one of the most beautiful of all men. He had chosen to give it to her among the three goddesses: Hera, Athene, and Aphrodite herself.

'Oh,' Echo said, 'Paris is a fine young man. But if you ask me who is the most beautiful of all young men, I would say he is Achilles, the leader of the Myrmidons in the army of Greece, the young prince of Phthia.' Aphrodite frowned a bit, 'Young prince of Phthia? Do you mean that beloved son of Thetis the Silver Feet, given by that mortal Peleus?' Echo grinned and nodded. 'Well, I can't deny that Paris is very good-looking, but I do think I like Achilles' better. He looks manlier to me.' Aphrodite raised her eyebrow. 'More attractive than Paris? This is someone I have to take a look at.'

The two looked down at the well, and the surface slowly formed an image of Achilles. He was resting his head on his right hand and his elbow on his knee. He was sitting on a bed, and was staring at something attentively. 'Oh... He is really very handsome.' Aphrodite said delightedly.

The two immortals talked for a while about the young man, and their topic changed into beautiful young women. Echo opened her mouth instantly to talk, 'If you ask me about beautiful young women, no one will be prettier than Helen, the beautiful wife of Paris. She is the one who caused the Trojan War.'

Aphrodite shook her head. There would be one certain lady that was even more beautiful than Helen. The girl was her daughter. Who would ever know about her daughter's beauty when no one had ever seen her face? Echo frowned a bit, puzzled by the smug smile plastered on Aphrodite's face. 'Oh, I have nearly forgotten. Of course, Aphrodite, my dearest friend. You are the most beautiful of all mortals and immortals.'

'Well, that's a positive answer. But we have been talking about mortal women. There is one girl who has never been discovered her beauty by anyone.' Aphrodite said, self-satisfied. Aphrodite looked into the well again, and it slowly showed her daughter. She was wearing a veil, and Aphrodite was pleased that the priest Briseus was doing what he was told. She observed the girl. Her features did look so much alike with Aphrodite herself, but she had inherited the colour of her father's eyes and hair. 'Who's this girl?' Echo asked curiously, drawing Aphrodite's attention.

'She's my daughter.' Aphrodite whispered to Echo. 'Your daughter? When have you had a daughter?'

'Don't tell anyone.' Aphrodite giggled. 'She's Hermes' daughter.'

Echo gasped, and looked into the well too. The girl was far more beautiful than Helen the fair cheeks. She looked up at Aphrodite mischievously. 'Why is she wearing a veil? Wear is she now?'

Aphrodite told the nymph about not letting anyone see her face. 'I don't want my daughter to be in danger of being raped by men. I must find her a beautiful and caring husband myself. Oh, yes. Maybe that child of Thetis. He is good-looking enough to be my son-in-law.' They looked into the well again and it zoomed out a bit to look at the surroundings of the girl Briseis. She was in a tent, and she was tidying the things up. On the middle was a bed, and on it sat the young man they had just looked at a few seconds ago. He was staring at her movements, never taking his eyes off her.

The two ladies laughed. 'He seems to be very interested in your daughter already.' Echo managed to choke out the words between her lovely laughter. 'What man can resist the beauty of her?' Aphrodite remarked. Aphrodite suddenly frowned. 'What is my daughter doing? Tidying up his things?' she said fumingly. She demanded that she must knew what had happened, and the well showed the goddess about what had happened in those eighteen years of her daughter and she was enraged by her daughter's situation.

However, Echo was smiling sweetly, and said, 'Oh, how romantic it will be if Thetis' son fall in love with your daughter, who is his slave now. I wonder what will happen.' The idea hit Aphrodite, and she smiled and replied, 'Why haven't I thought of this kind of romance before?' They laughed and talked for a few more minutes, and Echo bade Aphrodite farewell and left her home.

Once Echo had left, Aphrodite called for her son Eros.

'Good day, mother,' Eros greeted as he flew towards his gorgeous mother.

'Tell me, how is my daughter-in-law?' Aphrodite asked leisurely and leaned back on her couch. 'Psyche is very fine, mother. She praised your beauty and your wonderful deeds a lot.' Eros said courteously. 'Good.' Aphrodite smiled contentedly at her son, looked into the well, and said to him. 'Look at that young man down there?'

'Yes. What do you want me to do with him?' Eros asked. Aphrodite then pointed at her daughter. 'Recognize your sister?' Aphrodite asked, and Eros nodded. He knew every lover of his mother, and of course, he knew that he had a sister. 'Make that young man to fall in love with her.'

Eros started to fly away to perform his job, when Aphrodite stopped him and said, 'Don't use those arrows you have.' She jumped of her couch, and reached for a bottle of potion in her cupboard. 'Dip one of your plain arrows into this, and made that young man fall in love with your sister slowly.' Eros started off again, when Aphrodite reminded, 'You don't need to make your sister fall in love so quickly. I don't want her to devote herself to the young man so soon.'

After her son had disappeared in front of her, Aphrodite smiled at her own little project, pleased with herself.

'You seem to be very young,' Achilles said. 'How old are you?'

'Eighteen.' Briseis answered him frostily. Why was this man so curious about her?

Briseis had avoided talking to Achilles in the past ten days as much as she could, and she succeeded, as Achilles was busy in battle in the past few days. But today, the High King had decided to let his soldiers to rest for a week, so Achilles stayed in the tent. He had not done anything impolite or offending to her; he let her to sleep in his bed, and he on the floor instead. He was treating her quite kindly, he gave her dresses (Briseis did not know how he came by them), but mostly, Briseis would refuse to accept them. Well, sometimes he did lose his temper towards her, but he would apologize to her when he saw her tear-flooded eyes.

Sometimes Briseis would even wonder if she was still his slave or not, as he treated her this way. She did still help him to do his things, but Achilles would thank her when he came back from war. He would still sue her to remove her veil, but if she refused, he would not ask her anymore that day.

Briseis felt very uncomfortable as Achilles' eyes followed her movements._ Why can't he get something for himself to do? Like talking with his fellow Myrmidons... _Briseis buffed a bit, and walked towards the washbasin of Achilles. He had already washed his face, and Briseis held the basin in her arms and walked out of the tent to pour the water away. She exhaled. At least she was going to have a piece of mind for a few minutes.

It had rained as soon as she left the tent, and she sulked. What was she going to do? She did not want to enter the tent so soon... Maybe she could stay in the rain for a while. The sand was wet by the rainwater, and it was quite uncomfortable to walk on it. But Briseis did not care. She just wanted to escape from her master for just a few minutes. His questions were drawing her insane.

And to her surprise, Briseis had stayed in the rain for a few hours, just standing at the entrance of the tent, not going in. She had been thinking about her cousins and dead parents when Achilles suddenly emerged from his tent.

'Briseis!' he said, delighted, 'I thought you have wandered off to somewhere else in the camp and lost your way. Thank god that you are here!' Achilles grabbed Briseis hand, and pulled her into the tent.

Briseis followed Achilles back to his tent reluctantly. _How can I manage him in the following week?_ Briseis thought bitterly.

Once Briseis entered the tent, she regretted that she had stayed in the rain for so long. Her dress was sticking to her body, and it was very cold. The most the worry her was her veil, it was made of very thin cloth, and it was completely soaked now. It stuck to her face, and she was quite sure that her features were shown. Briseis covered her body, as she was afraid that her master would look at her. But she had to cover her face also... Briseis turned her back to Achilles, trying to solve the problem.

'Are you cold?' Achilles asked, and Briseis nodded a bit.

Achilles threw her a clean and dry dress that he had brought her a few days ago, which Briseis refused to wear. Well, she had to put it on now anyway. Briseis frowned again when she realized that she could not change in front of Achilles. 'Milord...'

'Yes, Briseis?' Achilles replied.

'I... need to change...' Briseis said timidly as she turned towards Achilles. She hoped that Achilles would not make fun of her.

However, her wish was not granted. 'What are you waiting for then?' Achilles said in fake lascivious.

Briseis lowered her head a bit and pouted. She was not quite aware that her veil was still sticking to her face, and Achilles had noticed her pout. 'No need to pout, gorgeous. I promise not to look, okay?'

'Thank you.' Briseis said, and squeezed out the water from her veil at once. It was a bit better, and Briseis changed. She found another piece of cloth, and used it as her veil temporally, while she let her original one dried.

'Have you finished?' Achilles asked.

'Yes.' Briseis replied as Achilles opened his eyes again.

'Yes?' Achilles said, looking at the girl. 'We have nothing to do. It's raining outside.' He said, smiling, while Briseis winced inwardly. 'Let's talk.'

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How's it?

Review. Thanks.


	5. Sick in Bed

Hi guys. Really sorry for the late update.

But I've just start school and I'm really, really, busy.

Tell you what: I've been nominated for the election of the house captains!

How happy. Well, it's not time to talk about it.

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Chapter 5

The next morning, Briseis was woken up by the moving noises by Achilles. She opened her eyes slowly. It seemed to her that the world around her was a blur. Why was she waking up so late today? She woke regularly each day. It was when she opened her mouth to speak she noticed that she had a severely sore throat. 'Sorry, milord...' she managed to croak out.

Achilles turned sharply at the voice of Briseis. 'Are you sick?' He asked concernedly.

Briseis shook her head, and tried to sit up. But it was like all her energy was drained away, and she fell back onto the bed with a thump. Achilles ran over to her, and saw her lying on his bed weakly. It was obvious that she was sick. He put his hand over her forehead. It was boiling. 'You're having a fever,' Achilles said as he frowned. 'It must be yesterday. You should not have stayed in the rain for so long.' Briseis nodded faintly. But what was the purpose of lessoning the girl when she was sick already? Achilles shook his head a bit. Briseis needed fresh air. 'You must remove your veil.' Achilles said cautiously. 'You need fresh air.'

Briseis did not say anything, but she shook her head vigorously. She would not let him to look at her face, especially not when she was so weak... 'What do you expect me to do then?' Achilles said, feeling the girl's hand. Her hand was tiny and soft, but it was as cold as ice. Achilles felt Briseis shivered. 'Are you cold?' he asked.

At this moment, Eros came down to the beach of Troy at last. He made himself invisible, and searched the campsite of the Greeks. He searched for a long time, and was frustrated when he could not find her sister in any tent. At last, he found Achilles' tent, where his sister was lying on the bed, and the warrior sitting next to her. He flew into the tent, and aimed the special arrow at Achilles. Eros released his right hand, and the arrow came flying towards Achilles until it stuck his back and disappeared. Eros smiled and left the tent silently.

Achilles did not know, but he was already struck by the poison of the arrow already. According to Aphrodite, this kind of poison Eros had used was a slow poison; therefore Achilles could not sense the feeling of love so soon. But it was yet to come. He watched as Briseis nodded, her body still quivering. He reached down and grabbed the few blankets from his bedding on the floor. As gentle as he could be, he covered Briseis with those wool blankets.

'Do you feel better now?' Achilles asked softly.

Briseis nodded and opened her eyes a bit to look at Achilles. His brows were furrowed with concern, and he looked worried. She felt very grateful, and she smiled at Achilles a bit. Well, Achilles could not really see Briseis' smile, but he noticed the appreciation in the girl's hazel orbs. He squeezed her hand, but it was still icy. 'But your hand is still very cold.' Achilles said, a little anxious. 'Hey... you are still quivering.'

Achilles went out of the tent, and when he got back, he was holding a cup of hot water. 'Can you drink it by yourself?' he asked her. Briseis tried to reach out her hand, but she was too weak to do so. 'Let me help you.' Achilles said softly, and reached out to tilt a corner of Briseis' veil upwards.

'No,' Briseis moved her head away. She could not even let Achilles look at her lips. Achilles sighed heavily, and put down the cup of water. 'I do have an idea, if you don't mind.' He said. Briseis nodded at her master, and said in a merely audible voice, 'You're my master, you can do whatever you want as long as you don't look at my face...'

And so, Achilles climbed up the bed and sat there. He scooped Briseis up gently and leaned her on himself. He put an arm around Briseis' slender waist to secure her position, while he reached for the goblet nearby. 'So now I cannot see your face, right?' He whispered into Briseis' ears, and Briseis could feel his warm breath on her neck. She blushed but nodded, and Achilles poured the hot water into Briseis' mouth.

Briseis closed her eyes and leaned on Achilles' chest after he put down the goblet. She felt so warm... It was like Achilles was shielding all the coldness out, and she was safe in his arms. 'Now I'm going to put you down on the bed again.' Achilles said softly. 'Don't.' Briseis said quietly. She did not want the warmness to leave. 'I feel so warm.' She murmured. However, Achilles still lay her down on the bed, although he climbed back into the sheets and wrapped his arms around her.

'Thank you.' Briseis whispered, and tears had started to well up in her eyes. She had never been taken care by someone like this since her parents died. Not even her cousins (except for Hector and Paris...) had ever spoke to her so gently like Achilles did. She was very touched by Achilles. He was a great warrior, and he was not supposed to take care of a slave like her. However, he did, and he even helped her with everything himself without a word of complain. Briseis closed her eyes to rest, while she was rejoicing that she had such a good master. At this moment, all her annoyance towards her master was forgotten.

Two days had passed, and Briseis had recovered a bit. She had slept most of the time, except for those she woke up and eat (fed by Achilles, to be exact).

It was midnight when Briseis woke again. Now, her head was aching like it was to be exploded sooner or later, and Briseis moaned in pain. Achilles was still by her side, and he was woken by Briseis also. '...Briseis...' Achilles whispered. 'Are you alright?' Briseis did not answer. She was starting to drift into unconsciousness again.

Concerned about the girl, Achilles reached over to feel Briseis' forehead. It was even hotter than it had been in the first afternoon when Briseis started to get sick, and Achilles felt his heart sank a bit. Was Briseis going to be okay?

He scrambled out of bed, and headed for his washbasin. Achilles dipped his fingers into it, and felt the icy cold water. He reached for a washcloth, and soaked it with the ice water. As he was squeezing out the excess water, he laughed at himself inwardly. Who would ever believe that Achilles would take care of his slave girl himself? He walked towards Briseis, and placed the cool cloth on her forehead, hoping it would help to lower her body temperature.

The night went on, and Achilles stayed awake, and kept the cloth on the girl's forehead cool.

When dawn came by, Briseis woke up and found that her condition had improved a lot. At least she had her strength back again. The girl sat up abruptly, and a soaked cloth went dropping onto her lap. She grabbed it from her lap, and could felt it was still quite cool. She glanced at Achilles, who had dozed off in a very uncomfortable position in a nearby chair. There was, beside him, his washbasin, and Achilles had a few locks of his golden hair dipped into the water. Briseis smiled at the sight, but she did nothing to it. She was very thankful towards her master, and she felt a bit indebted in loathing him before.

She sat there on the bed, in her hands the washcloth, pondering what to do. At last, before she could decide, Achilles had lost his balance in his sleep, and his head fell right into the basin, knocking it over, and he fell onto the ground with the basin on his head like a helmet. Briseis was astounded, and she could not help but chortled quietly. Achilles groaned, and removed the washbasin from his head. He was soaked all over, and he scratched his head, not understanding what had just happened. He looked up from himself to Briseis on the bed, his hair still dripping with icy water.

'Briseis... you are alright...' He said, smiling foolishly at her.

'Yes, I feel a lot better now, thanks.' Briseis replied softly. 'Let me get you something to dry yourself.' Briseis got off the bed, but she fell down instantly when she stood up. After all, she had not been out of bed for four days. Fortunately, Achilles was fast enough to fling towards Briseis and caught her in his arms in time.

Briseis, as safe as she could be in Achilles' arms, averted her gaze. 'Thank you.' She said softly, and fled from his arms by some excuse of 'getting you something to dry yourself.'

Briseis threw Achilles some cloth for drying himself, and sat on the bed slowly. She was feeling nervous—her master was staring at her again, like she was a prey of him.

At last, Briseis grabbed the washbasin from the floor and was going out to get some water, Achilles spoke and told her not to do anything these few days, and asked her to go and get some rest instead. But Briseis was anxious to get away from Achilles, so, although she wanted to rest too, she said, 'I can manage it...' and left the tent as quickly as she could.

After Briseis left the tent, Achilles was left to drown himself in his own thoughts. He had not noticed it, but he started to grown care for Briseis in the past few days when she was sick. Well, it was true that he had been interested in the girl from the start, but it was far from growing care. He really wanted to know what this perturbed feeling was, and it was troubling him. Whatever it would be, Achilles was sure that it would never be a good thing. Yes, he was sure of that. It was an omen.

All of these queasy thoughts were gone as soon as Briseis reentered his tent, carrying the heavy basin of water, walking unstably. 'You can wash your face now, milord.' She said as she put the washbasin on its rack, which was standing near the entrance.

_I have washed my face already... _Achilles thought. And it was true. You could say that he had even washed his hair and taken a bath.

Briseis went out of the tent again, and after a while, she came back with a tray of breakfast. 'Your breakfast, milord,' she said as she put it down in front of Achilles without looking at him, and started to leave the tent again.

'Hey, where are you going?' Achilles said. 'No, I want you to stay. Come, sit here.' He patted on the empty seat next to her, and Briseis walked towards him reluctantly. She had no excuse to go out now. She sat next to him without a word.

'Eat,' Achilles said to her gently. 'You must be hungry. You ate very little in the past few days.'

Briseis lowered her head and nodded. She remembered how she ate in the past few days. She was fed by Achilles in a very 'comfortable and relaxed' position. How could he expect her to eat a lot? But she did not say anything, and she grabbed a piece of dried bread anyway. She turned her head away from him and started to eat.

'Actually I don't understand why you can't eat without turning your face from me.' Achilles started, 'It's not like I can look at your face. You are just showing your lips when you eat.' He explained.

Briseis stopped abruptly. She had never thought of her lie would become unavailable when it came to eating. The real reason of making up the story was to prevent him from looking at her face. But what could she say?

'I don't want you to look at my lips.' She said plainly. It seemed quite unconvincing... 'They are nauseatingly shaped.'

'What's the purpose of lying to me?' Achilles said a bit repulsively. 'I know that they're wonderfully shaped.'

Briseis turned sharply at his words. 'You have looked at my face when I was sleeping!' She said alarmingly.

'I didn't.' The answer was very simple, but it was firm. 'I'm just guessing.'

Briseis froze at his words. It was a trap. Achilles had been tricking her in revealing her beauty in another more complicated way which needed no inquiring. And she had been tricked by him. As bewilderment and rage took over her, Briseis gathered all her strength and slapped Achilles on his cheek.

She stood up curtly and stormed out of the tent.

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I think it's the best chapter I've written of this story up till now... HeHe...

Anyway, please review. Thank you!

As for TBSBT, I'll update the ending chapter as soon as possible. I just can't think of a nice way to end the story...


	6. Argia

Chapter 6

Achilles raised an eyebrow and gaped after Briseis' figure, which was strolling out of his tent. She threw open the flaps sadistically, and without a look at her master, stormed out.

Achilles reached to touch his left cheek, where Briseis' supposed-to-be soft and delicate hand had slapped him so forcefully. He could never imagine such a girl could slap someone so powerfully when she had just recovered from a fever. Well, her slap had not really stung his face, but still.

Achilles frowned a little. It seemed to him that Briseis was very sensitive about her looks, and he should not have provoked her with his plot. He had never expected Briseis would be so mad about it, but it was too late to regret it now. The harm was done: she had slapped him on the face, and he had never been slapped by anyone, let alone a slave girl. No, his slave girl, to be exact. Achilles did not know if he should laugh at himself or fumed over the matter. He was Briseis' master, after all.

Achilles wondered if he should go after the girl to apologize for his little scheme. But the girl might be anywhere, and the camp was huge, it was very hard to find Briseis.

However, Achilles was wrong; Briseis had not wandered off to anywhere else. She had really thought of going somewhere else, but she considered that it was too dangerous in the enemies' camp, when she was so defenseless and unprotected. She was a girl, and she was experienced enough to know that what would the enemies do to a girl when she was captured. It was already very fortunate for her to have a master like Achilles, who did not want her bodyâ€ maybe she should not ask for moreâ€ And he had taken great care of her when she was sick

What should she do? Should she go to apologize to Achilles? Briseis sat down on the sand, just next to the entrance of the tent. Maybe she should have controlled her temper. Would Achilles punish her?

Briseis hugged her knees to herself. She felt so small, so insecure, and so vulnerable. She had not noticed in the past two weeks; but she had missed home desperately. She had tried to put up a strong image, she had tried to think optimistically; but she could not lie to herself: she really, really wanted to go home. Briseis bit her lower lip, not wanting the tears to fall. Maybe if she was killed the day Lyrnessus was invaded, she might be happier. Briseis wanted to brush away those thoughts desperately, but at this certain moment, she could not help but to be pessimistic; she could not bring herself to be cheerful.

Briseis had just tried to cheer herself up when her stomach rumbled audibly. It was very clear to her that she needed to eat. The last time Briseis had eaten was last night, and she was fed by Achilles in his arms. She had eaten very little, and now, she felt like that she was starving. She did have a bite of the dried bread just now in the tent, but that just added to her hunger.

Briseis wondered if she should go back into the tent. It was cloudy, and the wind was cold. Briseis was wearing a very thin dress, and for the first time in her life, Briseis knew how one felt when she was cold and hungry.

But she did not go in. Instead, she had been sitting there until her master came out to find her.

'Briseis,' he said, and Briseis looked at him with her teary eyes. His left cheek, where she had slapped him, was still red, and there was her handprint. In her eyes, he looked very delectable. The sight of him seemed to drive her sadness and misery away, and she smiled at him.

'Every time I found you, you are either standing or sitting next to the entrance.' Achilles said amusedly. He did not seem to mind about the slap at all. Instead, he was still very kind to her. He walked over to her, and lifted her up in her arms gently. 'You have been worrying me. Something dangerous may happen to you if you wander off' Achilles had come out to find her because he had suddenly thought of this.

_He cares about me_ Briseis thought silently. 'Sorry, milord' she said, her head down, feeling embarrassed. She should not have been so repulsive towards him. Yes, his words might be a bit annoying or irritating; but he cared about his slave. He had been worried about her when she had not come back to the tent. Briseis felt a bit guilty. Achilles was, indeed, a very good man.

'Are you cold?' Achilles asked. 'Come into the tent quickly. I don't want you to catch a cold again.'

Without another word, Achilles dragged his slave back into his tent. He was furious with himself: he had wanted to be harsh towards Briseis, seeing that she had slapped him; but he could not bring himself to be ruthless and unkind towards the girl when he saw her sitting on the sand, crying. It was he who had taken her to be his slave, and separated her from her family after all. Yes, she had sometimes been quite cold to him, but he could not help but to find the girl's personality adorable. When he had been taking care of her in the past two days, he had heard her murmuring something about home. He had thought of returning her to Troy, as she had some relatives living there.

But how could he do it? He wanted to keep the girl for himself. He liked to look at her helping him tidying up his things, and he loved it when she washed his back everyday, her smooth hands brushing carefully on his back.

'Milord' Briseis' voice broke his thoughts, and he found that he had been looking into her eyes for more than a few minutes already, and had been drowned in his own thoughts. He realized he was still holding her slender wrist firmly, and he fleeted a look at the contact between the two. Her skin was soft and smooth, and Achilles wondered how anyone could have such skin

He released his grip slowly, like he was letting his life go. He lowered his hand to his side, but his eyes still fixed at Briseis. Now his insides were burning like he was insane. He really wanted to lift up Briseis' veil and get a good long look at her face. Bur how could he? He had promised her not to, and she had promised to be his slave as long as he did not try to look at her face. If he really did break his promise, she would leave him, and he would never see her again; and Achilles would never want it to happen.

Briseis, feeling as perturbed as she could be under her master's gaze, turned and headed towards the table to get rid of the breakfast tray.

Now, in the great warrior's eyes, every movement of Briseis seemed to be very mesmerizing, and he could not tear his eyes away from the girl. Achilles knew it for himself that it was not a good symbol, and he turned to walk out of the tent when he could bring himself to sanity at last. Perhaps he needed some fresh air. But Achilles wanted to talk. Yes, he would go to find Odysseus.

When Briseis turned to walk out of the tent again, Achilles had already disappeared. She looked around in surprise. How could he left so quietly? Briseis shrugged it off, and she headed off to the kitchen (just to imagine they had oneâ€) to return the silver breakfast tray. It was quite near, and it was not quite dangerous. She had gone to the kitchen many times and she could manage to get to it without any harm.

She started towards that direction, and walked off in a snail's pace. She was still quite weak, and she did not want to exhaust herself.

She had been very near to the kitchen hut when someone grabbed her shoulder. Briseis turned, only to find two unfamiliar Greek soldiers grinning at her. She gasped inwardly, and she stepped back. The two Greeks looked at her lustfully, and one of them said as he shot up his hand to grab Briseis' veil, 'Why are you wearing a veil, little whore? No, I want to look at your face.' Naturally, Briseis smacked his hand away, and this action angered the two soldiers.

'Damn you! Whore!' One yelled as he slapped her robustly. Briseis cried out in pain and fell to the sand, dropping the tray. 'Let me teach you a lesson,' he said as he pinned Briseis on the ground. Briseis' eyes widened with fear and she screamed, although she knew no one would come to her rescue. All around the camp were Greeks. Briseis struggled; she must try to free herself from these barbarian soldiers. But he was too strong, and soon, Briseis loosed all her strength and she was even pressed on the ground harder. He started to pull the shoulder straps of her dress, but was stopped by the other Greek soldier.

'Remove her veil first!' the other soldier said, wanting to see Briseis face.

'No!' Briseis screamed.

_Bung..._

Suddenly, the Greek soldier on top of her freed her and rolled on the ground, knocked out. The one who had been standing fell slowly on the ground too. Briseis looked up at her saviour with her tear streaked eyes, and saw the cook, which was a woman, stood there furiously, holding a metal pan.

The cook smiled kindly at her. 'Are you okay? Well, I hate men who rape young girls like you. You are Briseis, Achilles' girl, right?' Briseis nodded at her, and the cook helped her up. 'I am Argia, come into the kitchen first; we can talk.' Argia was a woman at her mid-thirties; Briseis always saw her when she came to the kitchen.

She led her into the empty kitchen, and found two chairs. Both sat down, and Argia asked if Briseis was hurt. Briseis thanked the woman gratefully, and told her that if she had not hit the two soldiers in time, she would be raped. The woman waved off her thanks dismissively, and asked Briseis why she was wearing a veil to conceal her beauty. Briseis did not lie to her about the 'man dying' story, but told her the truth.

'May I see your face then?' she asked Briseis curiously. 'I'm not a man.'

Briseis pondered for a moment, and reached out to remove her veil. Argia was very kind and friendly; Briseis had sensed it the first day she went into the kitchen. Furthermore, she had saved her life. She was a woman, so why bother to hide her face from her?

Argia seemed a bit surprise when she saw Briseis' face. The two sat there for a moment in silence. Briseis frowned a bit. What was so bad about her face that made Argia so silence? She had always thought herself was quite (quite, okay?) pretty, and she had expected Argia to smile at her instead of having this kind of expression. Feeling uncomfortable again, Briseis put on her veil again.

'You look so much alike with Aphrodite.' Argia said, shaking her head slowly. It seemed like that Argia had seen the goddess of beauty before.

Now, you have to go back to your lord's tent. He would get worried if you still don't show up.' Argia said as she sat up and helped Briseis to. 'I'll walk you back. It's not safe for you to go back yourself.'

'Where have you been?' they were greeted by a concerned Achilles when Briseis entered the tent.

'I've had a talk with Argia, milord.' Briseis answered softly.

Achilles nodded at Argia, and she gave him a meaningful look before she left.

Achilles was puzzled. What did that look mean?

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I don't think I can write anymore!!!!

My mind is sooooo blocked!!! I'm too busy!! Give me some time until I update the next chapter!

But do review, 'please's and 'thank you's.


	7. My Good Briseis

Chapter 7

Two days afterwards, Briseis woke up early, like she had always been. Dawn had just hit the beach of Troy, and it was still very dark.

Briseis sat up and rubbed her eyes. She stretched a bit, and got off the bed. On the floor was Achilles, and he was sleeping soundlessly. Briseis stood there and stared at the handsome young man. There was something about him that made Briseis felt weird. She was his slave, yet he took care of her like she was someone very important to him... The most confusing thing was that he always stared at Briseis and that made her very uncomfortable. Briseis wondered if he treated every captive of his this way.

Briseis took the washbasin in her hands and walked out of the tent. They were going to have a war again; Briseis inwardly hoped that Troy would win the battle and the Greek army would leave soon. But somehow, deep in her heart, she did not want the Trojans to win the war; Briseis wanted to stay longer, and she would never want to leave her homeland. But she could not even dream of wanting the Greeks to win, as it would mean that her fellow relatives would die. It seemed to her that she wanted the war to go on forever.

After filling the basin up with water, Briseis went back into the tent thoughtfully. Achilles was still sleeping, and Briseis walked over to the rack and got down from it Achilles' armour. Achilles was going to the battlefield again, and that meant more of her countrymen would be dying; the thought made Briseis felt guilty of not wanting the war to end.

Part of Briseis wanted to go out of the tent to look at the sun rise, but part of her told her not to. After what had happened the few days, Briseis decided that it was not a safe thing to roam over the camp of the Greeks. She had not told her master about what had happened, because she was afraid that Achilles would be furious about it. She was sure that he would find out who were those two soldiers—seeing that he really cared for her, and what might he do to them... Briseis did not want to think about it.

Briseis had nothing to do, so she just sat on her bed (Achilles' bed, to be exact...) and ran her fingers through her hair. She did not need to go to the kitchen to fetch their breakfasts. After that day, Argia had always brought their meals to them by herself; Briseis had tried to tell her that what had happened that day was an accident, but Argia insisted, so Briseis thanked her gratefully.

Briseis heard noises from Achilles' direction, and she turned to him. He sat up fuzzily, and when he saw her, he smiled dreamily.

'Good day, milord,' Briseis said, and smiled vaguely back at Achilles through her veil.

'Morning, Briseis.' Achilles said as he stretched and left his tousled bed. Briseis looked away. She knew that her lord had a habit of sleeping nude, and she would avoid any chance of seeing anything she was not supposed to see. Briseis helped Achilles put on his armour, but still averting her gaze from any part of Achilles' body. 'Why are you looking at the weapon rack?' Achilles asked curiously, 'you are not planning to kill me, are you?' he added good-naturedly. Briseis looked at Achilles timidly, not knowing if she should tell him the truth or not. Sometimes he could be quite humourous.

Briseis turned to tidy up his bed, and Achilles went to wash his face. Not long afterwards, Argia arrived with their breakfasts and Achilles left with his Myrmidons to war after he had finished.

Briseis was left alone in the tent, and after she had made sure that the army was gone, she filled the bathtub and had a long, comfortable bath. It was nearly noon when the flaps flew open, and Briseis' eyes widened with fear. She was still unclothed in the bathtub without her veil, and she would never know how to deal with it if it was her master...

Fortunately, it revealed Argia.

'Oh, Briseis, you are bathing.' She smiled at Briseis. 'I thought I ought to take those trays.' She pointed at the silver breakfast trays on the table, which Briseis had not returned to the kitchen. 'You know, you should not bath in here. It's not quite safe... at least I don't think so.' The woman lectured. 'Next time you bath, you can come to me. I'll lead you to a place which you can enjoy yourself so much without anyone knowing.'

'Thank you.' Briseis smiled gratefully at Argia, and she came near to the bathtub. 'If you have not been wearing your veil for your whole life, I'm sure that now the Greeks and the Trojans will be fighting for you instead of that Helen.' Argia said, and reached out a hand to tug a lock of Briseis' silky hair behind her ear, 'I wonder if you have any relations to Aphrodite.'

'I'm just a daughter of a priest.' Briseis started, 'Have you seen Aphrodite before? Why are you saying that I look like her?'

'I'll tell you someday when you're ready.' Argia said as she smiled at Briseis kindly. Briseis was sure that Argia would be a very loving and caring mother. 'Now, I'm leaving, and you are to leave the dear little bathtub of your master's and dry yourself. You are having a bath which is too long for anyone.' With this, Argia left without another word. Briseis dried herself and put on her dress and veil. Everything around her seemed to look better; she had not been enjoying a bath like this for so long. And the little chat with Argia seemed to help her lighten her mind; she did not know why or how, but it just did.

After that, she went out of the tent. The Greeks had left, and it would be safer if she go outside than before. The sun was shining brightly, and the sea was very calm. Briseis shielded her eyes with her hand. The sunlight was making her hard to see. Briseis felt bored, so she roamed around the edge of the sand and collected some seashells. She remembered that she had always did so when she was young, together with her friend from Thebe, and they would be looked after by Chryseis' older sister, whose name was Andromache. She even remembered that the two close friends had laughed so hard that they could not breathe when they saw Hector and Andromache held their hands in a shy way.

Briseis wondered how time could pass so quickly. After a blink of her eyes, the sun was already setting, and she could see steam gushed out of the chimney of the kitchen hut. And not after that, she saw the Greek army returning to their campsite.

Briseis pouted, it was very enjoyable out here, and she loathed going back into the tent. But she had no choice; she would rather be bored or face Achilles than being made fun of by the soldiers. So, reluctantly, Briseis stood up and left the comfortable spot which she had been sitting for nearly the whole afternoon.

She had just finished preparing for his bath when the flaps were flown open and walked in Achilles. He glanced at Briseis, and he smiled lightly at her. Briseis walked over to him and helped him to remove his clothing. Achilles thanked Briseis, who was not looking at him again, and doused himself into the water. Briseis started to wash his back when she talked, which was rare; Briseis seldom talked to him initiatively, and he was quite surprised.

'How did the war go, milord?' Briseis asked him softly, while gathering his golden locks.

'It's been... fine.' Achilles answered. He could not find the right words to say to Briseis. He knew that she was concerned about her family. The army had sacked one of Troy's allies today, and Troy was getting weaker. He did not want to worry the girl, so he said nothing more.

Briseis brushed Achilles' hair away from his neck, and found that there was a new wound there. She touched it gently. Maybe it was her compassionate nature that made her did it, or was it something else? Briseis shook her head; she did not know the answer. 'Does it hurt?' Briseis asked as she found a thread and a needle and started to suture the wound. It was not really deep or serious, but it needed to be mended.

'Not quite.' Achilles said absentmindedly. 'It is your hands that are tending my wound after all.' He added purposefully, and grinned when Briseis did not say anything. She started to wash his back again after she had dealt with the wound.

'Be more careful when you're on the field, milord.' Briseis told Achilles considerately. Yes, maybe she disliked Achilles in some way, but she still did not want him to get hurt; maybe she was too caring.

'Gee, you talked like you're my wife.' Achilles said, and chuckled a bit at his own words.

To his surprise, Briseis grew quiet for a moment, before she said in a very slavish way, which made Achilles felt guilty of making her his slave, 'I'm just your slave.'

'But you've made me feel like I'm your husband in some way.' Achilles told her light-heartedly, trying to ease the tension between the two.

Briseis stopped unexpectedly. Was Achilles implying something? Was there an underlying meaning in his words? But whether there was or was not, Achilles' words made Briseis blushed and felt edgy. So she threw the washcloth at him in a forceless way, and went to sit on the bed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. 'If that's making you feel uncomfortable, you're going to clean yourself without my help, and I'm not going to help you to tidy up your things.' Briseis said as she moped unconcernedly.

The great warrior rendered speechless. Was the girl throwing a tantrum at him? He could not understand the girl's purpose of saying that... But the best thing to do now was to cheer up the girl. 'Hey... I'm just joking... no, don't make me wash my back by myself, please, please, please, my good Briseis...' Achilles pleaded hopefully.

Briseis fleeted a glance at him impersonally, but to his surprise, a smile slowly crept up to her beautiful and enchanting hazel eyes. Achilles stared into those mesmerizing brown orbs, and secretly wished that he could get one look at her face.

Briseis' heart softened at the beseech of her master. 'Who tell you that I'm your good Briseis?' she said, but she still went back near the tub, and started to wash Achilles again.

'I just know you are,' Achilles said complacently, and relaxed when Briseis gave him a shoulder-rub with her impossibly soft and delicate hands. 'You are my good, good Briseis.' Briseis blushed a bit, but she still tittered at Achilles' words. She felt like she was starting to like her master more and more... But in Achilles' heart, Briseis was already more than just a slave to him.

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Ah! I think that's sweet... I don't know!

I just can't help but felt the sweetness of the two when I'm rereading the chapter...

Hope you feel the same way too...

Do you like the chapter? Review!! I promise you I'll update soon.


	8. More than Something

Chapter 8

'I'm going to the High King's ship to discuss some matter on the war,' Achilles said to Briseis after they have had their breakfast the next day. 'Be careful, don't leave the tent, ok? It's not quite safe out there…'

'I understand that, milord, thanks for your care.' Briseis replied quickly.

Achilles smiled warmly at her, and Briseis averted her gaze a bit. There was something about his eyes that made her felt perturbed in some way. She turned to tidy up the her lord's things, desperately wanting to find an excuse not to look at him. But he grabbed her arm, so Briseis had no choice but to look into his affecting and soulful eyes. There was something in his eyes that was not there in his eyes before… What was that? After what seemed like hours to her, Achilles opened his mouth just to said, 'Briseis, I…err… just, be careful, okay?'

'Thanks again, milord…' Briseis was sure that there was something else that he had wanted to say, and Briseis was surprised that she wanted to know what that was. 'By the way, milord, is there anything else you want to say?' Briseis asked suggestively. Briseis looked at Achilles with great anticipation when Achilles started to open his mouth again.

'No, I don't think so…' Achilles' answer was a bit uncertain, but it still disappointed Briseis a lot. He left the tent, and left Briseis there to stare after his back. Briseis could not understand herself. She had just been so uninterested in her master in the past few weeks, but why had she suddenly grown interest in him? Was that something she was not supposed to feel? He was her enemy after all…

Briseis had sat there for a long time, thinking over what did that look mean. No one would ever know when she was going to wake from her daydream, until the flaps flew open, and Briseis turned her head towards the source of the noise. She had thought it would be Argia coming to collect the breakfast trays, but it was someone that surprised her. It had been a few days already, but Briseis could still remember his face clearly. It was the man who had attempted to rape her.

'Hello, my dearest…' Briseis winced at his words. His voice was filled with covetousness and lust, and it made Briseis panicked. She stepped back a bit, trying to be as far as she could be from him.

'No need to be shy… it's only you and me now.' The soldier said as he loomed towards the small and defenseless girl.

'Don't you dare come close to me!' Briseis yelled at him, trying to be as fierce as possible. But it was no use. The fear and helplessness in her heart was already revealed in her expressive brown eyes. Briseis' eyes darted from here to there, trying to find someway of escaping. But he was blocking every way of which she could use to escape… Now, she only had one choice: to grab anything she could reach for and throw it at the scoundrel soldier.

The first thing she could reach was the silver breakfast plate, and she threw it at him forcefully. Briseis was surprised at how powerful she could be, as when the soldier dodged and the breakfast tray hit the weapon rack, it collapsed it the ground immediately. Achilles' weapons were all over the floor, and Briseis threw herself towards the mess, trying to grab one of them.

However, the soldier was a lot quicker than Briseis, and before Briseis knew what was happening, she was already pinned down on the ground feebly.

'Now, no more of these worthless struggle, whore. We have to get this quick.' The soldier said as Briseis still tried to kick him desperately. But he was heavy, and Briseis had no more strength left.

He reached for Briseis' veil, and Briseis turned her head, trying desperately not to let the veil be pulled off. 'No! Not my veil! Please!' Briseis pleaded, and her vision started to grow blurry as her tears stung her eyes. She screamed out loudly for help, but the man paid no heed to Briseis.

Briseis watched in horror as her veil was thrown to the floor. She turned her head and shut her eyes at once, although she knew it was no use now. He had already seen her face. Now she could not control her tears anymore, and they flew down her cheeks like two little streams. Briseis shut her eyes tighter, waiting for what would be coming next; it would be even more horrible. But it did not happen. Briseis opened her eyes and turned to look at what was happening. Yes, the man was still on top of her, pressing her down onto the floor, but he was not doing anything; he was just staring at her face silently, like the world around them had stopped spinning.

Briseis dared not to move, as she was afraid that any tiny movement of hers would wake this man from his stillness, and he would continue to do what he had intended to.

They had been like this for a few minutes, until the flaps of the tent was suddenly flown opened and the soldier jumped off from Briseis like he had been lying on top of a piece of burning coal. Briseis turned her head away from the flaps too. She quickly grabbed her veil, which was lying quite near to her, and put it on. She then turned towards the source of the noise, and saw her master, who was fuming with rage and ire, stood there murderously. There had been a long silence between the three when Achilles opened his mouth at last.

'What have you done to my girl?' He roared, and the soldier looked frightened.

'I…I…I didn't…' the solder glanced at Briseis, and Achilles followed his gaze. His eyes softened a bit when he looked at the poor girl, tear streaked, frightened.

'Are you not afraid of death?' Achilles bellowed, and drew out his sword from its silver sheath. He reached out to grab the soldier's collar, and held him up. 'What do you want to say before your death?' Achilles asked grimly, and Briseis gasped. Achilles was going to kill the soldier.

The soldier stole a glance at Briseis. 'I… just want to know her name…'

Hearing his words, Achilles was angered even further, and he said nothing, but just raised his sword. 'You don't deserve to know her name!' He bawled at him. 'Milord!' Briseis managed to choke out; she was also startled by Achilles' anger. Achilles had been so caring and gentle in front of her, and she could never imagine him of being so frightening. Perhaps it was why the people were so scared by him when they were telling his story. Maybe they had seen Achilles so furious before.

Achilles did pause for a moment, before he said calmly to Briseis, 'If you want to plead for him, forget about it. He deserves more than death.' Briseis pondered over Achilles' words. It was true; the man had tried to rape her, and she would have felt a lot different now if he had succeeded. She might even thought of killing herself if he had done so… _yes, he is unforgivable…_Briseis decided. But caring was Briseis' nature, and she could not help but having sympathy on the man. So, she turned to him. 'My name is Briseis, if you would like to know…'

But Achilles still killed him anyway, and Briseis closed her eyes, avoiding herself to look at the scene. Hearing the slash of Achilles' sword on the man's flesh was already very revolting to her. Briseis thought she might even throw up if she saw the death of the man.

Briseis kept her head turned to the opposite side until Achilles called for his men to pull out the corpse of the dead soldier. She then turned her head towards Achilles, and looked at him with trepidation and fear. She could not even imagine how terrible would her days be if her lord treated her in a way like he had just treated the man who tried to get pass her. And now she felt discreditable and shameful. The man had seen her face; and she was nearly raped by him…

'Briseis… are you alright?' Achilles asked as softly as he could. The girl looked so fragile, and he was afraid that she would be scared by him.

Tears came to her eyes, and Achilles felt his heart sank: he had not been able to protect his girl, and she was now harmed physically and mentally by some unknown soldier. 'He looked at my face…' Briseis said softly, and Achilles nearly laughed out at himself. He took a good look at Briseis. She was still fully dressed, although she did not look as tidy as she had been. He smiled gently at her; this girl was just so unpredictable. What did it matter when she was just being looked at in the face? Yes, he knew she cared about that a lot, but hey, it was no big deal comparing to being raped. But he still kept the kind smile on his face, bent down and leaned towards Briseis.

She backed away a bit, still afraid. 'I will not harm you, at least not in that way.' He said gently, and he reached out to touch the girl's right arm. Her skin was soft, and it felt like he was holding warm silk…

'Nor I will look at your face.' He added quietly.

Briseis looked up at him like a sheepish little child, and nodded. Achilles hesitated; not knowing if he should drew the girl into a hug. She had just nearly been raped by some man, and he did not know if Briseis felt safe to be touched by another man now. But Achilles need not worry; Briseis had already thrown herself into his arms before he had even reached out his hands to embrace her. He patted her back comfortingly, and he felt her relaxed a bit.

'I'm afraid…' she said suddenly.

'You should be,' Achilles said softly.

'It's so horrible…' Briseis murmured, her voice muffled by the closeness of them.

'I know it is…' Achilles comforted her.

'Milord, if you don't mind,' she said looking up at him. Achilles nodded at her, ushering her to continue, 'I have just been talking about you…' she said timidly.

Achilles felt himself blushed a bit, but he looked away, trying desperately not to reveal his embarrassment. 'Why am I so horrible?' he asked shakily. He wanted to laugh at himself.

'About how you've been so unkind and cruel towards that soldier…'

Achilles chuckled. 'I promise you that I'll not treat you that way. I never will.'

'Really?'

'Really.'

……………………………………………

That's all for now. I don't really know what I can write for this chapter…

Review… Thanks.


	9. A Talk on a Tree

I'm sorry I have not been updating. It's getting busier everyday...

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Chapter 9

To Briseis' surprise, Achilles told her that he was not going to war that afternoon. She had asked him why, but he just shrugged and said, 'It's not up to me. It's the High King's decision. I usually obey his orders; but I can say that if it's not him leading the whole troop of us, great victory would be won already.' He looked up at Briseis. 'He's a stupid king, I can say.' Achilles added absentmindedly.

Briseis turned and started to tidy up the things. It was a mess in the tent: one of the breakfast trays was lying soundlessly on the floor, and was turned upside down. The leftover food (including those dried bread, which was so difficult to chew that Briseis decided to left in on the tray, but now it ended up on the floor...) and drinks was spilled on the floor; the rack which held all of Achilles weapons, had collapsed when it was hit by the breakfast tray. Briseis had been aiming at the man who had tried to rape her at first, but it had missed him and hit the rack accidentally. She got a cloth and wiped the food on the floor first, and then she started to rebuild the rack.

After Briseis had pushed back the rack onto its original place, and put the weapons back onto the rack again, she found Achilles was sitting on his bed, in his hands a dagger. Its pommel was delicately crafted, and the blade was so thin that it seemed to shiver a bit, and gleamed with a purple light when Achilles pulled it out from its sheath. She stared at the dagger. It seemed so fascinating… Achilles fleeted a look at Briseis, and smiled lightly. Suddenly, without any alarm or notice, he threw the dagger up. Briseis took a step backwards in amazement and shock as it flipped and flopped in the midair. But before a blink of her eyes, Achilles had already jumped up from his bed and caught the dagger in its blade and held it in front of her.

Briseis gawked at him. The pommel of the dagger was handed for her to hold on, and she took it tentatively. She could never believe that Achilles' movement could be so quick, judging by how leisurely he walked or how slowly he washed his face. _Well, he is a warrior after all…_ Briseis thought as she slapped herself mentally; how could she never be reminded about that…

She gazed at the dagger. It was not really heavy, and it felt good holding it in her hands. 'It's for you.' Achilles said. 'I do think you need to be armed after what happened just now.'

'I can't accept this…' Briseis said softly, handing the dagger back to Achilles. 'It's important to you.'

Achilles was surprised by Briseis' words. She was not supposed to know about how he came by this dagger… 'How do you know?' he asked suspiciously. It was a dagger his father had given to him when he was still very young, just before he had went to stay at his teacher, centaur Chiron's place to learn.

But the even astounding thing was, Briseis shook her head to Achilles' question. 'I can sense that.' She knew it by the way she had seen Achilles caressed the dagger. But Achilles insisted that she had to take it. And at last, Briseis lost the battle and received the gift appreciatively.

Achilles looked at Briseis, and found that he was imagining her face without the veil again. He tried hard not to think of it, and reminded himself that the man had died also, because he had looked at Briseis. But he knew that Briseis must be extremely beautiful, as he could still remember how that man who had tried to rape her had looked at Briseis before he was killed by Achilles; Achilles realized that it was a look of longing and desire, and he seemed so eager to know the girl's name…

Well, Achilles had thought this way, but he could never know that the death of that soldier was just by chance that he had angered Achilles, and it had nothing to do with looking at Briseis' face. Now, even staying in the tent did not seem to be safe enough for Briseis…'Hey, would you like to go for a walk nearby? I'll come with you. It's safe.'

Before Briseis could even say yes, Achilles had already grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the tent. He walked swiftly, and Briseis found it very difficult to follow his pace. She found it quite surprising; she had never seen her master walked so fast. While they strolled in the camp, Briseis found themselves catching the Greeks' attention, and she lowered her head, preventing any of them to look into her eyes. At last, when Briseis found herself exhausted in keeping up the pace of her master, she spoke up, 'Milord, may I ask if we can walk a bit slower? I can't follow your pace.'

He turned to look at her. She was panting a bit, and her cheeks were flushed. 'Oh… I see. We'll walk slower then…'

'Where are we going?' Briseis asked out of curiosity. She knew they were having a walk, but surely it would not be in the camp?

To her delight, Achilles pointed at the woods nearby. They kept on walking, and Briseis wondered why Achilles was not smiling at her anymore since they left the tent together. She wanted to ask him if there was something wrong, but she dared not; she could still remember how scaring her lord could be when he was furious. At last, when they reached the woods, Briseis managed to blurt out, 'Have I done something wrong, milord?'

And this time when Achilles turned to look at her, he smiled at last. 'Why do you say so?' He released his grip on her wrist and started walking at a snail's pace.

'You didn't even smile at me just now when we're walking in the camp…' Briseis replied unhappily, yet still a little bit afraid.

'Let's talk on the tree, shall we?' Achilles suggested, pointing up at a branch of one of the tress nearby.

'But I don't know how to climb-'

'Of course I will help you up,' he said, and before Briseis responded, he lifted Briseis up and hung her on his shoulder. 'Now, here.' He said joyously while Briseis was yelling for him to put her down. Of course, Achilles paid no attention to Briseis' shouting and yelling, and he started to climb the tree. Briseis quieted down a bit, and suddenly remembered the first day they had met. She remembered how hard and forceful he had pulled her hair, and how harsh had he been to her in front of the other soldiers…

Achilles reached that branch at last and he put Briseis on it while he sat down too. 'Why are you so changeable?' Briseis asked him as soon as he settled down.

'Changeable? What do you mean?' Achilles asked puzzled. Was she talking about his womanizing habits?

'You seemed so repulsive in front of the soldiers…' Briseis said, implying how he had treated her in front of his men.

'You know, for a guy, especially when you are a warrior, it's always to be tough, or to be brave, or to be manly, and you can never show one minute of softness or gentleness because if you do, you're marked for life.' He started to explain. Briseis looked bewildered. Why was it so? ''When you're leading the man, you always have to remain an image of being harsh and unsympathetic. If you show one hint of gentleness towards anyone, your men will not listen to you.'

'But what if something really terrible happens? Like your parents have died? Aren't you allowed to start blubbering and weeping and running around all depressed? It's how I had been when my parents died… How can you just shrug it off? I can never play through the pain like it's no big deal.' Tears had started to well up in her eyes when Briseis thought of her dead parents. Until this day, Briseis still found it hard to control her tears whenever she remembered her parents. Briseis had always thought she had already cried herself dry over the death of her parents two years ago. Until now, she realized that she had not yet cried out all her tears over her parents...

'Briseis…' Achilles whispered, looking at the girl intensely. Her eyes were now very glassy, and they seemed to gleam in the sunlight, making the only part of her face exposed more beautiful than ever. He watched as she brushed away her tears curtly.

'I'm sorry, milord.' Briseis said softly after a few minutes of silence between them.

Achilles smiled gently at her and played with her soft silky curls. He wondered how someone' hair could be so nice to hold. Achilles knew he should never felt that way over the girl, but he knew he could not control himself. His feelings towards Briseis had moved beyond just merely adore or admire. It was a lot more than that. But how could he tell her? He was sure that she would think he was just making fun of her.

But this was the perfect moment to tell her. No one would be around to disturb them, and Briseis could never run away from him, seeing that she did not know how to climb a tree. 'Briseis, I…' he said, and Briseis looked at him with her enchanting eyes. The first time in his life, he felt nervous… How should he begin with? I love you? Certainly not; any girl would run away from him at once if he started with that. He had no experience of courting a girl; his old mates threw themselves at him, and he needed not do anything.

Briseis looked at him expectantly. Surely she did not know what he was going to say…

What if she refused to accept his love? Surely she would not, would she…? Maybe it was too risky. Maybe he would tell her another time…

'Maybe we shall get down…' he said instead. Briseis nodded, and Achilles jumped down. _How can he do it?_ Briseis asked silently. It seemed so high up here, and Briseis even thought it would break her legs if she jumped down like Achilles had just done. It was clearly written in her eyes that she was not able to jump down, and Achilles grinned inwardly. 'Jump, Briseis, I'll catch you down here!' Briseis looked around. Well, what choice did she have? She did not know how do climb down, and the only way was to jump… Maybe Achilles would catch her… maybe… maybe…

She shut her eyes tightly, and jumped. She could feel that her veil was threatening to separate from her face, and she clapped her hand over it. Briseis felt herself caught in Achilles' arms, and she opened her eyes. She looked up and saw Achilles bowing his head down to look at her, and the sunlight made the edges of his golden hair gleamed. She gazed into his amazing blue eyes. He looked so much like a god, maybe the Sun God, who had also golden hair and blue eyes…

He pressed the soft materials of the veil a bit closely onto her face, and it revealed the shape of her lips. He leaned down slowly, and closed his eyes, readying to feel Briseis' lips…

Briseis dared not to gasp. She was not ready for something like this, especially when it was her master who was doing it…She widened her eyes, and thought of some way of escaping desperately. She must think quickly; Achilles was looming nearer and nearer by every second, and it was about to happen in a few seconds…

Briseis had no choice. She shut her eyes tight, and hit her head on his.

'Ouch!' She cried out, trying to sound as accidental as she could be. Achilles opened his eyes abruptly after he felt Briseis' forehead hit his. He snorted and lowered the girl to the ground, himself blushing a bit. It had been so close, if Briseis had not moved so suddenly.

'I'm sorry, milord,' Briseis said apologetically, not knowing if she was apologizing just for hitting Achilles' forehead 'accidentally' or for not 'letting him kiss her'.

Achilles smiled at her a bit and shook his head in an awkward way. 'Come on, let's get back…'

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Ooh… I don't really know what I can say about that…

Just review, ok?

Thanks!


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